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  • 1939 World's Fair Mural Study - Chicago IL
    Ilya Bolotowsky’s oil painting study for the Hall of Sciences mural at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York is today housed in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is all that remains of Bolotowsky’s mural commissioned by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Arts Projects, as all murals made for the World’s Fair were destroyed at the Fair’s closure (Mahoney, p. 261). Bolotowsky is a generally overlooked pioneer of American abstract art and this work is a testament to the brilliance of his art, which he was given ample opportunity to practice through the New Deal. Thus,...
  • 1939 World's Fair: New Jersey Pavilion Mural - Flushing NY
    The New York Times wrote the following in 2003 in a retrospective article of New Jersey-based artist Michael Lenson: " moved to Newark and applied at the W.P.A. office on Halsey Street ... Soon, Mr. Lenson was designing and executing murals for the state W.P.A. program. He went on to become assistant state supervisor in charge of the other muralists in the agency. By the time the federal W.P.A. closed in 1943, Mr. Lenson had created six murals and supervised the execution of 15 more in New Jersey by other artists. He also made one mural in West Virginia." "Three of Mr. Lenson's...
  • Abraham Lincoln High School Murals - Brooklyn NY
    Artist Seymour Fogel painted two murals, entitled "African Music and European Music" and "Religious and Modern Music", in the Music Room (Room 327) of the Abraham Lincoln High School in 1936-37.  The New York Schools website shows only a portion of the first mural on its excellent Public Art for Public Schools pages, so it is uncertain if the latter mural is still extant.
  • Addams Elementary School Fresco - Long Beach CA
    In 1938, under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP), artist Suzanne Miller completed the fresco "A Visit to the Jungle" for Jane Addams Elementary School library in Long Beach, CA. According to the Arts Council for Long Beach, "This story-telling mural illustrates an original children’s fable, written by the artist, where children encounter an assortment of wise and friendly animals. Contemporaneous accounts note that the artist wrote a story of children visiting the jungle specifically to accompany her mural at the Jane Addams School." Miller also completed murals at the old Lincoln Park Main Library and Franklin Classical...
  • Administration Building (ENMU): Lloyd Moylan "Art" Mural - Portales NM
    The abstract mural titled "Art," by Lloyd Moylan, was funded by the WPA's Federal Art Project. The medium is tempera on plaster.  There were music classes held on the second floor of the ENMU Administration Building, which explains the choice of a piano mural on the second floor of the building. Later, the classes were moved to former WWII barracks until a new and separate music building was completed around 1958. So the caption might be “Moylan captured the sounds of music through the walls of the school’s Music Dept.” Nearby, the Golden Library houses this mural's twin, titled "Science". As Kathy...
  • Administration Building (ENMU): Moylan Mural - Portales NM
    "The 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes" Medium: tempera on plaster The mural occupies a stairwell. All its components cannot be viewed at once. The following text is quoted from an informational postcard handout available on site: In 1937, the Work Projects Administration of the Federal Government established a program of murals in public buildings throughout the United States. Eastern New Mexico University made application to the Work Projects Administration for a mural to be painted in the Administration Building. Following approval of the application, a mural to represent the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes in the Holy Bible was chosen. The Work Projects Administration employed...
  • Ala Moana Park Landscape Design - Honolulu HI
    In 1932, the city government began grading work and site preparations on the grounds of the Ala Moana park with the help of territorial relief funds. But it was the advent of federal assistance in 1933 that expanded the scope of construction and park development. Robert Weyeneth describes the process in the volume, Ala Moana: The People's Park: "The Federal Employment Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and, briefly, the short-lived Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) provided the resources for the park board to undertake a major construction program in the thirties. During the construction program funded by the CWA and FERA, the daily labor force was as...
  • Alameda County Courthouse: Marble Murals - Oakland CA
    The former main entrance on the east side of the Alameda County Courthouse leads to an elegant lobby flanked by stairways and two large murals made of inlaid marble backed with gold and silver leaf.   The murals, which measure 10 x 30 feet, were designed by Marian Simpson and sculpted by Gaetano Duccini.  They were paid for by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). One is called "Exploration" and depicts the Native American and Hispanic history of Alameda County.  The other is called "Settling of California" and portrays the arrival of Anglo frontier settlers.  That entrance and lobby is...
  • Albuquerque Veterans' Hospital Decorative Ceiling Wood Carving - Albuquerque NM
    These carvings adorn the ceiling of Building No. 1 of the Veterans' Hospital, which was likely also a WPA project. From Public Art and Architecture in New Mexico 1933-1943 by Kathryn Flynn (2012): "Building No. 1 which currently houses the Psychology Department was one of the buildings constructed during the WPA activities and has unusually fine carved animal heads on the corbels which are at the end of the ceiling vigas. The carver or carvers are unknown. WPA handmade furniture is located throughout the building."
  • AMHA: Judy Zemnick Sculptures - Akron OH
    New Deal Daily, July 3, 2018: "While in the WPA, Zemnick created several sculptures highlighting the transportation history of Ohio. The pieces were created ca. 1935-1939. They are now incorporated into a multi-panel history display at the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA)." The squirrel sculpture pictured below was also Zemnick's creation, made during her employment with the WPA. However, it is not known if Zemnick made the full-size sculpture(s), or just the model to be used in creating the full-size sculpture(s).
  • Andrew Jackson High School (former) Mural - Queens NY
    Ruth Reeves painted this mural, entitled "Student Activities in School," for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was housed at the Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria, Queens, and believed by Living New Deal to be no longer extant.
  • Ann Street Elementary School Mural – Los Angeles CA
    Artist Adrien Machefert painted a mural, "Pilgrim's Harvest Festival," at Ann Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA. He was funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). "Adrien Machefert, a man past fifty, was born in San Jose, California, and started drawing for San Francisco newspapers at the age of seventeen. Following fourteen years doing portrait and landscape painting on the Island of Majorca, Mr. Machefert returned two and a half years ago to California and has since been working for FAP most of the time" (Wells, p. 22). Machefert's other New Deal–funded murals in the region include "All Nations" at Ninth...
  • Anza Branch Library Frieze - San Francisco CA
    This frieze on the ceilings of the library's reading rooms depicts "Flowers and Animals" and was funded by the FAP and WPA. The artist is currently unknown to the Living New Deal. The library itself was completed in 1932, but is very similar in design to what soon after became known as the WPA style.
  • Arizona State Fairgrounds Stadium and Art - Phoenix AZ
    The Works Progress Administration built the grandstand at the Arizona State Fair grounds in Phoenix. "As the Great Depression deepened and thousands were uprooted and looking for work, numerous fairgrounds were turned into camps for these transients. The Arizona State Fairgrounds provided a temporary place to stay and an opportunity to earn money through labor. Funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and later the Works Progress Administration, transients helped to construct the stadium. A fifty-foot grandstand, an adobe wall on three sides of the grounds, and an auto racing track inside the horse track were created in 1936. Exhibit buildings...
  • Arlington High School (former) Murals - Arlington WA
    David M. Hartz, superintendent of Arlington’s schools, requested from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a mural of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox to adorn the walls of Arlington High School as a memorial of the folkloric past of the Pacific Northwest (and Arlington’s past as a lumber town). According to the February 1940 issue of the Washington Education Journal, “His inquiry to the WPA Art Project brought a happy response: ‘Yes, artists were available, and a mural could be done for very little cost.’” The result was that Washington-based artist Richard Correll painted the nine by twelve foot mural,...
  • Arthur Johnson Memorial Library: Artwork - Raton NM
    "Located in the historic downtown area of Raton, New Mexico, Arthur Johnson Memorial Library building was originally built" as the community's post office in 1917, well prior to the advent of the New Deal. "Remodeling in the late 1990's opened the second floor for use, and included the addition of an elevator." The facility's significance from a New Deal standpoint stems from the "large collection of paintings representative of New Mexico artists of the New Deal period," which hang "throughout the library. A painting by the late Chiricahua Apache artist, Allan Houser, done prior to his moving into 3 dimensional art,...
  • Balboa Park: Casa de Balboa Murals - San Diego CA
    These two oil on canvas murals, entitled "Farm Landscape" and "Point Loma," were painted by Charles Reiffel on a commission from the WPA Federal Art Project in 1937. They were originally installed at Memorial Junior High School. Each mural measures 10' x 10'. Some contemporary critics called Reiffel "America's Van Gogh" (Balboa Park Beat, October 2012).
  • Balboa Park: Club Murals - San Diego CA
    Belle Baranceanu painted two oil on canvas murals at Balboa Park in 1935, paid for with federal funding:  "Progress of Man" and “Education and Culture”.  She rushed to complete the later for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition and would later claim that she could not stand to look at it. These are the only two of her murals to survive in their original location.
  • Bateman School Children Reading and Playing Wood Carving - Chicago IL
    This carving of two 3' x 5' wood panels was created with the help of New Deal funds.
  • Bateman School Decorative Landscape Mural - Chicago IL
    This 30' x 40' mural was painted with the help of New Deal funds.
  • Bateman School Mural - Chicago IL
    This 7'11" x 11'6" mural "Characters from Children's Literature" was painted by Roberta Elvis with WPA Federal Art Project funds.
  • Bateman School Scenes of Industry and Learning Bas Relief - Chicago IL
    This 14' x 4' wood carving was produced with the help of New Deal funds.
  • Bayard Rustin Educational Complex Murals - New York NY
    This building was originally the Textile High School, then the Straubenmuller Textile High School, then the Charles Evans Hughes High School, before eventually assuming its current title as the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex. It is now an NYC "vertical campus" housing several smaller schools. In addition to a pair of stained glass windows by Gerard Recke, the building contains several large WPA Federal Arts Project murals created by various New Deal artists in 1934-36. In a 1965 oral history, New Deal artist Irving Block said of the high school that "there were many rooms available to us for decoration." In the same...
  • Baywood Elementary School Animals and Children Mural - San Mateo CA
    This 1940 oil-on-canvas mural by George Goethke covers all 4 walls of the kindergarten room of Baywood Elementary School (formerly the George Hall School).
  • Beach Chalet: Fresco Mural Cycle - San Francisco CA
    The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park, built in 1925, is home to a trove of New Deal artworks in the first floor lobby, or entrance hall. The centerpiece of the Beach Chalet's artworks is an enormous fresco mural by Lucien Labaudt, entitled "San Francisco Life."   This magnificent mural cycle is 9' high and covers all four walls of the lobby (about 1500 square feet in all). It was painted by Labaudt in 1936-37. The mural cycle has nine sections depicting San Francisco locales: the Embarcadero & Fisherman's Wharf on the north wall; Baker's Beach on the...
  • Beach Chalet: Monochrome Frescoes - San Francisco CA
    The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco contains several New Deal artworks. Lucian Labaudt painted a set of monochrome frescoes around the stairwell and in the corridor to the restrooms on the south side of the ground floor.  The stairwell is surrounded on all sides and on the ceiling by soaring gulls and sea birds. The frescoes were done in 1937 under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project (FAP). Labaudt also painted the immense mural around the entrance hall.  
  • Beach Chalet: Mosaics - San Francisco CA
    The Beach Chalet contains several New Deal artworks.  Include decorative mosaics by Primo Caredio, done in 1937.  They are located in the South Staircase and over the north and east doorways of the large first-floor lobby. All the Beach Chalet artworks were done by unemployed artists hired by the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 
  • Beach Chalet: Staircase Sculptures - San Francisco CA
    Michael von Meyer created the enameled, magnolia wood carvings, called "Sea Creatures," in the balustrade of the south stairway of the Beach Chalet.  The carvings are 36" high and run all the way up to the second floor, about 25 feet in all.  It is a marvelous fantasy piece that includes an octopus, mermaid with child, merman (Neptune?), porpoise, fish with elephantine trunk, sailing ship and a deep-sea diver, among others. All the Beach Chalet artworks were done by unemployed artists hired by the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 
  • Beaumont Library Mural - Beaumont CA
    The Federal Art Project (FAP) funded several art works currently located at the Beaumont Library in Beaumont, Calif. The pieces include a mural, a watercolor, and a sculpture created by WPA artists. 1. Watercolor by John Warren. Labeled as FAP on the frame. 2. Mural by artist Henri de Kruil. The artwork is composed of two pieces depicting the view from Beaumont looking north toward the mountains. The bigger part of the mural is on the north wall of the second story of the library. The smaller piece is on the east wall of the library. They almost meet together in a corner. Gene...
  • Belding School Mural - Chicago IL
    The Belding School contains a WPA mural "Children's Activities" by Roberta Elvis. Medium: oil on canvas Size: 15' x 5'4"
  • Bellevue Hospital: Amero Mural (destroyed) - New York NY
    In the late 1930s Emilio Amero completed work on the mural entitled  “Tropical and Hudson Valley Vegetation,” for the entrance lobby in the new Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the new building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. It so happens, that the new building for which Emilio Amero painted the mural was also a New Deal project. The building was constructed with the support of the  federal Public Works Administration (PWA). Emilio Amero was a Mexican printmaker and painter who spent much of...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Arenal Mural - New York NY
    In 1936 Luis Arenal and his assistant completed work on the mural entitled  "North American Tropical Vegetation," for the First Lobby Stairway of the new Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the new building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. It so happens, that the new building for which Luis Arenal painted the mural was also a New Deal project. The building was constructed with the support the  federal Public Works Administration (PWA). Luis Arenal was a painter and sculptor born in Mexico in...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Furedi Mural - New York NY
    In the late 1930s Lily Furedi painted the mural entitled "Simple Way of Life" for the women’s large occupational therapy room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital, It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. According to Wikipedia, Lily Furedi began her work as a New Deal artists with the the Public Works of Art Project. When the program ended in 1934, Furedi joined the Federal Art Project under which completed the mural for Bellevue Hospital. The Federal Art Project Photographic Division lists...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Horn Mural - New York NY
    In the late 1930s, Axel Horn and an assistant, George Brodsky, who was a veteran of the Lincoln Battalion, completed work on the mural entitled “Industrial Landscape” for the first floor waiting room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Horn and Brodsky were two out of more than a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA/FAP) to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. Susan Teller Gallery explains that "rom 1936 to 1940 Horn worked on the Federal Arts Project. He made murals for the Seaview and Bellevue...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Karp Mural - New York NY
    In 1936 and 1937 William Karp painted a mural entitled "Normal Pursuits of Man" for the occupational therapy exhibition room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the psychiatric building at Bellevue Hospital with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. With funding from the W.P.A., Karp also produced the mural entitled "Armed with Learning and Reality, Looking from the Past to the Future" in 1938, for the Hebrew Orphans Asylum, NYC. We know that one of the murals at Bellevue hospital entitled "Materials for Relaxation" by...
  • Bellevue Hospital: laSpina Mural - New York NY
    In the early 1940s Nunzio laSpina completed work on a mural decoration for the ceiling in the lobby of the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. LaSpina was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP) arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to paint murals for the new psychiatric building at Bellevue Hospital. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of this mural.
  • Bellevue Hospital: Ludins Mural - New York NY
    In the late 1930s Ryah Ludins painted the mural entitled “Recreational Grounds of New York City” for the men’s recreation room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. It was one of over a dozen murals painted by artists for the building with funds provided by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration. We know that one of the murals at Bellevue hospital entitled “Materials for Relaxation” by David Margolis has been restored. However, The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of the other WPA murals painted for Bellevue Hospital. Ryah Ludins first became interested...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Quirt Mural - New York NY
    In 1937 Walter Quirt completed work on the mural entitled The Growth of Medicine from Primitive Times for the doctor’s lounge room of the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Quirt was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP) arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to paint murals for the new psychiatric building at Bellevue Hospital. John Dorfman of the online journal "Art and Antiques" pronounces Quirt's mural for Bellevue hospital to be his "...greatest achievement for the WPA..."  Dorfman explains that it "...was a panoramic mural...which combined Surrealism and history painting on a grand scale." Quirt painted...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Reisman Mural - New York NY
    In 1936 Phil Reisman was one of over twelve artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. With funding provided by the Federal Art Project, Reisman completed work on the mural entitled "Interdependence of Industry and Agriculture" for the men's therapy room in the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital in the late 1930s. In an article about Reisman's prints for the Charles Marvin Fairchild Memorial Gallery, George D. Bianco writes that "he mural , painted in egg tempera, depicted various American industrial scenes...
  • Bellevue Hospital: Ross Mural - New York NY
    In the late 1930s, Louis Ross completed work on the mural entitled "Cyclorama of Handicrafts" for the classroom in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Ross was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA/FAP) to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of the "Cyclorama of Handicrafts" mural that Louis Ross painted for Bellevue Hospital.
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